Things to do... now!

Thing #89: Learn to stick up for yourself

2011-11-27T20:29:00.002Z

OK, I am not Chuck Norris, but there is no point trying your luck, right?

Thing #49: Read These Books

2011-11-27T20:12:00.004Z

I used to read many books when I was a kid. I still do, even though lately I don't invest as much time as I would have liked to. Other committments take their toll, and consequently it's not easy. So, it was rather convenient as far as this Thing is concerned that I was asked to write a book review, which I have now completed.

I guess this is a good starting point to get back into reading. In fact, I now know how many of my 212 books I have not read. The 212 number is not random. I found an excellent Android app called... 'Book Catalogue' and added all my book in it! Highly recommended!

Thing #84: Lobby Your Local Congressman

2011-06-23T16:25:00.004+01:00

If you want something done, just get elected. What's the point in just lobbying? So in April, I decided to put myself forward and see if I can get elected. After a long, but exciting campaign, I was elected a few days ago... albeit not as a congressman. Perhaps next time!

Alice Bucket List

2011-06-09T16:18:00.002+01:00

Most certainty a more interesting list compared to mine: http://alicepyne.blogspot.com/

"life is what we make of it and so I'm going to make the best of what I have"

Thing #46: go as fast as you can by train

2011-03-04T23:29:00.007Z

As I was going to travel from Osaka to Tokyo by train I decided to measure its speed using my GPS for Thing #46: go as fast as you can.

My first impression was that of a deja vu! I have been on a train like this before, I thought to myself. Indeed, it turns out Taiwan's High Speed Rail and more specifically the THSR 700T train series is a variant of the 700 Series Shinkansen, built by a consortium of Japanese rolling stock manufacturers. So no surprise that they looked very similar.

GPS recorded about 265 km/h which is not really that fast for high speed rails. What is probably more interesting is the reliability of the the Shinkansen. In 2003, JR Central reported that the Shinkansen's average arrival time was within six seconds of the scheduled time. This includes all natural and human accidents and errors and is calculated over roughly 160,000 Shinkansen trips completed.

Thing #92: Have your own plot in the garden & Thing#57: Plant a tree

2011-02-27T14:14:00.004Z

One of the benefits of doing the 101 Things when are you older (but not boring), is that you probably live by yourself and have a house that YOU call home. This house may come with a garden, even if it's a small one. Now I am useless when it comes to gardening and my garden looks like a 'plot' rather than a garden. Still, there are some green plants that grow there every year by themselves (I have tried many times to prevent them, but so far have failed miserably). As I think this is as close as I will ever get at completing this Thing I will just consider it completed.

On a more positive note when it comes plants there is another Thing, #57, that is similar to #92. For this one I was supposed to plan a tree and climb it when I was to be older. We used to have a tree and I used to climb it until we had to cut it. Then my parents planted a few more trees but I don't think I can wait for them to grow for me to climb them. You've probably started wondering how I can claim this Thing completed. Well the answer it that planting alone is not enough and that watering is equally important. So, I spent a whole day digging a trench to install an automated watering system. Believe me.. digging that trench under the sun is enough to claim more than 10 Things done! Anyway these two are enough, as the watering system not only waters the trees but all the garden!

Thing #76: Learn to Say Useful Phrases in Other Languages

2011-02-27T13:45:00.002Z

I take it computer languages don't count for this one, so lets focus on what most people would consider a 'language'.

I can handle more than a few useful phrases in English (in case you did not notice), which is a good start for this thing. I can order ice cream in German apart from some other equally useful stuff. I even had a complete dialogue in French once, which went something like:

Airline staff: Bonjour!
Me: Bonjour!
Airline staff: Asks for my destination (I could recognise that much!)
Me: Oui
Airline staff: hands me the boarding pass etc
Me: Merci beaucoup!

The above should have been more than enough to claim this Thing completed. However, I thought I will try something a bit more special for this one. I've known I was coming to Japan for 10 months now, so I though to wait and claim it done when I arrive by trying my Japanese survival vocabulary.

Thing #76: done! Arigatōgozaimasu!

Happy New Year

2010-12-31T16:23:00.002Z

It's customary to look forward to the New Year on a day like this, but it may be more appropriate to step back and see what took place the past 12 months. Sometimes we feel an urge to discard and forget, pretending there was this black box that can encapsulate all that we want to leave behind us. I suppose it's only to be expected. We want to forget the bad moments and look forward to the new adventures that lurk just around the corner. However, there seems to be a gap in between the two: the good moments, which as per always we don't treasure enough.

You may start thinking that I have fallen into the cliché holiday trap and that I have already started compiling lists of new year's resolutions! Actually, I have not, although ironically I am thinking of compiling such a list just now. It's just that for me it has been a good year, overall. Actually, the last couple of years have been good, very good indeed. Not everything was perfect, but they were good! Despite the difficulties there were these 'special' moments that made every struggle worthwhile. I guess without them they would not have been special. Now, what I came to realise is that during the past 24 months I more or less got closure in many challenges I had set for myself over a decade or so. It's like 10001 Things to do before the decade is over! It sounds dramatic, probably because it is. Well, for me anyway! It's a great feeling to be happy with your place under the sun, know where you are coming from and have a direction. No I have not figured everything out and neither do I know how things would turn out. I am just happy that I can shout: so far so good!

With a tabula rase as my to do list and a clean email inbox (does not happen often), I am ready for 2011 new adventures!

All the best for the New Year.

Things #13 & #77

2010-12-24T22:30:00.003Z

Merry Christmas! Ho Ho Ho!

I thought to wish everyone all the best for the festive season and the new year, by posting a video greeting card in which I am whistling. Not a bad idea given that doing so means I've just completed another 2 Things!

Thing #5: Keep a Dream Diary

2010-12-20T00:51:00.004Z

Well what's the point? After all, I tend to dream what I think. Sometimes I even try to think what I will dream. The past few months though, what I came to realise is that it's the dreams that we come up with when we are awake that truly matter. Those little thoughts that occupy the back of your head and desperately want to come out (do not confuse them with the voices you may hear once in a while, those are a different thing). Given that I have a big head, and consequently ample of space at the back of my head, I can afford to have many such thoughts.

Oh.. and in case you are wondering what my thoughts are... well, actions speak much louder than words. Patience is a virtue.

Thing #52: Learn to swim - update

2010-12-20T00:42:00.003Z

In my previous post I wrote that swimming from A to B, when needed, is enough. Well, the pool is not enough any more! 3 months into this Thing I have managed to go a long way (actually swim a long way), at least given my initial performance. So... if I am allowed to start making new year's resolutions early this time, then let's start with this: I will go swimming once a week.

Thing #52: Learn to swim

2010-08-24T14:05:00.002+01:00

I share at least one common characteristic (our passion to excel) with Michael Phelps and that's not our swimming abilities. Nevertheless I can definitely float, I sort of swim and if needed I can go from A to B. That's enough for me. After all my favourite quote when it comes to the swimming is that: "I prefer seafood to the sea". If you don't believe me, then look at Thing #62!

Thing #63: Things Your Parents Say They'll Tell You When You're Older

2010-08-24T13:58:00.004+01:00

I am trying hard to remember what they used to say, but I am failing so far. In fact, they seem to prefer the more generic but universally applicable: "You will see when you grow up". I've now grown up and I can testify for their infinite wisdom. More worryingly I have started using the very same words... Moral outcome of the story: "If you are still young and not boring, then listen to your parents!"

Thing #69: Make a scene in a public place

2010-07-08T23:03:00.000+01:00

Second 'accident' in a few days, another thing completed. I was in a meeting when we had a break. I walked to the podium and started playing the wireless microphone. I switched it on to see if it works and said "It's great when things just work". Well it did work indeed. In fact it worked so well they listened to my short speech in the room next door. I just had not realised that the two rooms were really one big room split in two and that the microphone was actually for use when the two half rooms were joined! Well.. how would I know? No.. seriously!

Thing #6: Touch these creatures

2010-07-06T23:52:00.002+01:00

I accidentally touched a spider so I accidentally completed this Thing! It still counts though, in case you are wondering. The other creatures to touch were:

Mice [no way!]
Butterfly [Check]
Worms [I think Check]
Birds [Check]
Spider [Check]
Snake [only when playing snakes and ladders]
Frog [I think Check]
Fish [Check]
Some sort of bug [Check]

Thing #100: Meet someone famous

2010-05-12T22:05:00.003+01:00

I have already claimed this thing done, but why not claim again? After all last time when I met Diego Luna he did even not ask my name. Well this time I got the record straight! I recently attended one of Malcolm Gladwell's talks after which I bought two of his books. After waiting patiently in the line for a few minutes I approached him and said... "Hi!". He started signing the book only to stop and ask for my name. I knew his. He knew mine. In my books this is called an introduction and consequently justifies me claiming this Thing done properly this time!

Thing #44: Teach your grandparents something new

2010-03-31T12:27:00.003+01:00

Teaching my grandmother to use a mobile phone may be difficult but is not difficult enough. So I thought to scale this up and teach 50 elderly people (we can debate all day who's old and who isn't, so lets not go there) how to use the Internet and various related applications, such as VOIP, social networking etc. To achieve this I had to organise a full day training event and get a few volunteers to help out. The session has not taken place yet, but the sheer organisation effort to make it happen is enough to claim this Thing done!

Thing #46: Go as fast as you can (RE-done!)

2010-03-29T14:10:00.004+01:00

I was travelling with a 747-400 the other day and it reported a ground speed of... 1002km/h. So I officially broke the 1000km/h milestone. Then again, perhaps that was not that great after all. A bit of wind can make wonders. Still the 747-400 took me all the way to Taipei where I got a lift by (one of) the fastest lift in the world in Taipei 101! It travelled 101 floors in 45 seconds. Not bad eh!?

Thing #17: Act in a play

2010-01-08T10:46:00.002Z

I actually completed this Thing back in October, but just did not get myself together to post it. Better late than never.

I was attending a class when we were asked to prepare a short play and then act to illustrate the theories discussed. I was in a team of 4-5 people which meant not everyone was going to play. Needless to say I jumped to the opportunity. It's not always been easy to volunteer and we all have our reservations. At the end of the day though we need to make our choices. Stay at the side or lead the play?

I may not be at the Academy Awards this year.. but at least Thing #17 is now completed!

2009 + ...

2010-01-08T10:39:00.003Z

...I wish I will manage to post more than 10 entries = 2010!

In case you were wondering (I can not be hold accountable for you losing your sleep) I have not forgotten about my 2007 new year's resolution. It was just put on hold.. for 6 months, as I did not find the time to post. Is there really a better time to resume or a better way to resuming, but making a new new year's resolution? After all people do that all the time.

Anyway.. enough with the introductions, just let me say: that I hope you all enjoyed the first week of 2010 and that the rest of it is 2010 better!

Bookcrossing

2009-07-21T11:50:00.004+01:00

I registered a few books with book crossing and let them loose. If you find any of them please do leave a message!

Details of the three books can be found here:

http://www.bookcrossing.com/222-7362132
http://www.bookcrossing.com/001-7362146
http://www.bookcrossing.com/327-7362142

Update: The books were caught and a reply to my message left at bookcrossing.com. Check it here.

Update: Just released on more book: http://www.bookcrossing.com/155-7729828

Thing #26: Recycled

2009-04-19T21:34:00.003+01:00

In the past it was a bit of pain (well more than a bit) to recycle as there was not an easy way of disposing the recycle materials. This has finally been resolved as our City Council brought to each household in our neighbourhood a proper full size recycle bin. Since then, I have recycled about 50% of all my waste (at least as far as the volume is concerned). Even better, it took some time to actually fill both bins, which a) is good news for the environment as I do not consume much, hence I waste less b) I do not need to take the bins every week to the designed area for emptying them. Saving the environment saves me time, so it's a pretty good deal if you ask me. Now that this blog is even more environment-friendly I can claim Thing #26: Help save the environment competed for the second time!

Statistics

2009-04-14T16:27:00.002+01:00

In the last two years this blog had about 3700 visits which is not bad considering I have not told many people. Before anyone claims that he or she has visited the site 3700 times they should pay attention to the fact that these visits correspond to 2940 different visitors. In anyway... many thanks for spending 1 minute and 14 seconds of your life reading my posts every time you visit this blog.

3,697 Visits
2,940 Absolute Unique Visitors
7,081 Page Views
1.92 Average Page Views
00:01:14 Time on Site

Thing #56: Know who your friends are

2009-04-14T16:14:00.004+01:00

I was checking the evaluation form that is suggested by the book in order to figure out who my friends are. This included items such as:

Lied to you: how would I know?
Humiliated you in front of others: I can do that by myself, but any help is always welcome
Told other people your secrets: perhaps I am telling them 'my secrets' so that they can actually tell other people
Refused to apologise for something they did or said to you that was wrong: not really, after all they don't want me moaning to them for the rest of their lives... oh and I will most certainly do so
Borrowed money from you and not paid it back: nah, good bills make good friends
Blamed you for something they did: that would not work, as I am beyond any suspicion
etc etc

Well, I could not fault anyone I know which either means I have many good friends or that the evaluation list requires a reevaluation. Either way Thing #56 is a thing of the past.

Thing #18: Win Something & Thing #68: Take Part in a Tv show & Thing #100: Meet someone famous

2009-02-22T14:59:00.008Z

I was thinking of what to post for Thing #18: Win something and two stories came to mind, one which involved winning prizes in radio shows. That reminded me of Thing #68: Take part in a TV show. Interestingly, television is the only media I have not featured actively in one form or another. Well I have been mentioned I suppose and even appeared randomly! So, as I always had a passion for radio, I thought to put forward those prizes I won back in... 1994 (yes that's correct, 15 years ago) in a local radio show. I even remember, a couple of the questions, .e.g. one asked where is the Atomium. Piece of cake!

To win my other prizes though I had to put far more effort than just use my trivia knowledge. So I prepared my submission for this competition and went to the night of the awards full of confidence. I even prepared a speech.. just in case! Anyway, I arrived at the gala, sat down and had a look at the programme which listed all the competition entries... only to find that I was not listed! I was disappointed to say the least trying to come up with why that would be the case. Anything from my submission did not reach them to I was THAT bad! After a minute I thought I should at least enjoy myself. So, to cut the story short, I enjoyed my dinner, while they started announcing the prizes one by one (similarly to the Oscars). I was very surprised to listen to the presenter announcing that I was nominated for one of the categories. I thought to myself that's better than nothing. Even better than that, was that I won the second prize in that category! By that stage I was thinking this is not as bad after all and how can it be when your hopes are crashed as mine were originally. Anyway, they continued with the prizes and got to the last one, which was the overall award. I was surprised (but not as surprised as the first time) to find out that I was nominated again. Second time lucky and I got to win tho overall prize! Not bad considering I was not even mentioned in the programme.

Replaying the evening in my head while writing these few words also reminded me that the overall prize was presented by Diego Luna, an actor who had recently played in the 'Terminal' with Tom Hanks. So, I suppose I can even put that forward for Thing #100: Meet someone famous (an update on this can be found here)

Thing #23: Learn to do a card trick

2009-02-22T09:01:00.003Z

This was straight forward and worked first time, although I could have had a bit more practise to make it look more convincing. You may remember my previous awesome magic trick too. Check it out here.

Thing #91: Send a Valentine Card

2009-02-14T17:24:00.002Z

This is a relatively easy Thing to complete provided you remember to do this! I forgot to do it last year, and I had to wait for a whole year for Valentine's day, before I could send out my card. So, without further delays, I can claim this Thing done!

PS: Happy Valentine's day if you are celebrating today (if you are a florist you are are most likely celebrating anyway!). If not, no worries, those in love have a day to celebrate their love. Those single ones, have 359 days to enjoy!

Thing #44: Teach your grand parents something new

2009-02-12T20:14:00.004Z

Well, I did get to teach my grand mother something but video conferencing with her is probably as close as I will ever get to completing this Thing! Perhaps I should teach her how to blog and socially network too!

PS: This is the first time I manage to complete all Things in a row in my To Do table in the panel on the right!

Update: Another take on this Thing

Thing #66: Have a snowball fight... and have fun in the snow

2009-02-12T20:05:00.003Z

I threw a few snowballs here and there, but I could not say I had a proper fight. At least, there was enough snow to have some fun and make a snow man! That was enough fun for a day!

Happy new year!

2009-01-24T18:35:00.001Z

Well it's almost February, but better late than never so... Happy New Year! Oh, and happy birthday to this blog too which still goes on after two years! It's not just that holidays and work have taken priority the last few weeks and I did not get to post something. You may recall that I had put a few things on Ebay for sale so I had to wait for the listings to expire and see if there was any interest. And there was not.. so now I have to go with plan B or even try something else. I will literally keep you posted!

In anyway, I hope you all enjoyed your holidays and look forward to a great 2009!

Thing #78: Hold a jumble sale - Update

2008-12-29T22:12:00.003Z

I have now posted a few items on eBay. Lets see how they go! In the mean time, I decided to sell a few of the books that I bought some time ago and never read. I filled a bag and headed to the second hand book store, only to find out that they have over-supply and would not be buying more until after the holidays. Desperate to avoid having to return with the heavy bag, I went to a second second-hand bookstore and things got more complicated. They offered credit for three brand new books, but that meant I would have had to return to check if the books had been sold. That's just too much hassle. In retrospect, I should have offered to give them away for half the credit value, but in cash. That would have closed the deal and I would have completed this Thing. Anyway, I came up with a better idea. I will give them to friends or release them in the wild using bookcrossing.com (remember Thing #34?). Hopefully, one of my eBay items will be sold and I will get to announce this Thing completed!

It's Christmas Every Day

2008-12-26T00:42:00.001Z

From Wikipedia:

Andy Park, is an electrician from Melksham, Wiltshire, England, who styles himself "Mr. Christmas" after having celebrated Christmas day every day since 1994.

In 2001, Mr. Park estimated that since he started celebrating, he had got through 30 artificial Christmas trees, 10,000m of tinsel and 10,000 balloons, at a (then) estimated cost of £100,000.
Each day he eats breakfast (turkey sandwich and mince pies), then goes to work, until returning around at lunchtime to eat a full roast turkey dinner before watching a recording of the Queen's Christmas speech, sherry in hand. In 2006, it was reported that the Queen had politely declined an invitation to broadcast her speech from his house.

In an interview published in 2006, Mr. Park was quoted as saying that over the previous 13 years, he had consumed 4,380 turkeys (one a day), 87,600 mince pies (20 a day), 2,190 pints of gravy (half a pint a day), 26,280 roast potatoes (six a day), 30,660 stuffing balls, 219,000 mushy peas, 4,380 bottles of champagne, 4,380 bottles of sherry and 5,000 bottles of wine. However, in 2001, he was warned by his doctor that the diet was affecting his health after his weight increased to 19 stone (121 kg).

In 2005, he released a single entitled "It's Christmas Every Day", with a video featuring Mike Reid and produced by Andy Whitmore. There were suggestions in the media that much of the information was an attempt by Mr. Park to attract publicity for the single.

On 15 December 2007, in an interview on the BBC Radio 4 program Saturday Live, Mr. Park confirmed he was still celebrating every day. On 25 November 2008, the Daily Mail reported Mr. Parks had to change his celebrations somewhat due to the credit crunch.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

2008-12-25T23:14:00.003Z

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope Santa Claus brings everything you asked for and even more. And while waiting boring yourself, there are 101 things to do out there! It's almost 2 years since I've started working through my list and I have 'already' completed 2/3 of it. Only 39 things to go! By next Christmas I should have hopefully be almost there!

Thing #78: Hold a jumble sale

2008-12-23T21:02:00.003Z

Jumble sales are so yesterday, so I will be trying to sell a few things I have not used for ages on eBay. Well, it's mostly computer components that came out from PCs that gave up on me (it's not my fault they can't work as much as I can). I don't expect to get much for them, but at least I will doing my bit for the environment. After all, I'd rather see them come back to life and serve a purpose to sitting in a box accumulating dust. Even better, this whole thing of looking for items to sell made me ask myself what I really need to keep and what I don't. Guess what? I started getting rid of things. After all, this is a good time to do so and start 2009 clean - literally and metaphorically. In fact, as I am in the process of clearing the corners this very moment. I will conclude this post right here and get back to it.

Thing #8: Learn how to play an instrument

2008-12-12T17:25:00.003Z

A few months ago I bought an instrument hoping I was going to learn how to play it. How difficult can it really be to play a small drum? Well, I hit it a few times and it made this not-so-nice sound. After all the main criterion for buying it was: does it fit in my suitcase? Fast forward to yesterday, when I went out for some Christmas shopping and I came across the Guitar Hero kit. This truly gives a whole new meaning to air guitaring! So, turn on the volume and enjoy!

Thing #71: Do something nice without being ask

2008-12-07T02:37:00.003Z

Some people need help, but they can't ask for it... because they are unconsious... in a telephone booth. I came across one such case tonight so I thought to do something more than nice and alert a near by policeman that there was someone in need of help.

Thing #40 and Thing #9: Completed for a second time!

2008-11-28T11:23:00.003Z

What do you get if you combine Thing #40: Take care of an animal, Thing #45: Invent your own game (remember the Sparkling Cow Look game?) and Thing #9: Play a computer game to the end? Well, a game that takes care of virtual pets. I started playing on against my friends and although they had a head start I managed to get to #1. So I can claim both Thing #40 and #9 completed for a second time!

Thing #53: Succeed at something you are bad at

2008-11-14T06:54:00.004Z

Many people can not sleep when they travel, for example on a train or a bus or an airplane. I am not one of them. In fact I can sleep even before the plane takes off. I find it helps kill time more effectively to starring at the clouds for hours and hours and hours (and hours). The only problem is that when you are on a plane everyone feels obliged to talk to you, it's good customer service after all. The cabin crew will offer a mint, before explaining the safety measures. Then they will bring some food (which you don't really want to eat), then they will bring the drinks, then the coffee/tea, then they will come back to pick things up and then... oh then they will try to sell you duty free. Surely, if I wanted to buy duty free I would have done all my shopping when I was at the airport. As if the above are not enough, the captain needs to inform us of the route we are going to follow and the flying level. Does it make any difference? I got on board at point A and I want toget out at point B. That's all it matters to me. Why am I saying all this? It's because it's impossible to sleep with all these disruptions.

Anyway, to complete this Thing I managed to stay awake for about 30-35 minutes in the taxi that brought me to the airport. This was a great achievement if one considers I failed the last three times and this is the exception and not the norm!

Thing #34: Hide treasure and leave a map

2008-11-01T21:55:00.005Z

In June I was planning to go after a book in the wild, released as part of the bookcrossing.com initiative. It took me a few months but I finally managed to complete this Thing by hunting down a book released in my area. I did check a map to find the exact location (there are no X in Google maps), but that was not really need as I had a rough idea of where the place was. It was very exciting to see the book there on the shelf waiting for me!

For the record here is a photo!

To search for books or even release your own books in the wild visit http://www.bookcrossing.com/.

Thing #51: I am spending my time (and money)

2008-10-26T00:00:00.002+01:00

About 6 months ago I bought a green tie. I then managed to make a mark on it using a pen so I gave it to my mother to 'safely' vanish the stain. She did vanish it, tie included! So I gave up waiting for it to miraculously re-appear and bought a new one. Well 3 of them. And... while I was on it I got a 7-port USB self-powered hub. After all, every household needs one of them. I then went for a hot chocolate... twice.

Going shopping with your swear money? About £47.6. Blogging it for the 101 Things to do before you are old and boring? Priceless!

Having spent my swear box money I can now claim Thing #51 done. As this is the 60th completed thing, I am now almost 2/3 there!

Thing #101: Decide what you want to be

2008-10-24T23:27:00.004+01:00

Too late for that... I am already what I decided to be. Well, sort of! More than 15 years I was asked that very question. My answer was rather 'ambitious'. No, I did not want to be an astronaut. Neither did I want to be a super star of any sort. Not even a pilot (that's something I want now). I wanted to be a mathematician, physicist and analyst (not of a specific sort - I just wanted to analyse stuff!). The teacher said I could not be all those things. She was 'right' after all. You need about a decade just to study those things at an undergraduate level. Still, I was lucky to combine all the above, and more, and for that I can only be grateful.

It got me thinking though, how easy it is to dismiss other people's dreams. We all do it (and not just for dreams). What a silly thing to do though. Dismiss a dream? But, it's a just dream! Let them live it. Help them live it. Encourage them to try and when they fail be there to push them further. Failure is part of the process and the process is what matters, so failures matter too. How we deal with adversity says a lot about us after all.

Same thing applies to you too. If you want to know who your friends are (Thing #56) then see who supports you - without asking. Not just those who will say 'yes' all the time. Those who trully care about you. Those who think about your step #2 before you even take step #1. Those who invest in your happiness. And when you know who these people are, make sure you keep them close.

Thing #50: Pretend to be ill - convincingly

2008-10-24T23:10:00.002+01:00

Faking anything is a matter of time. You need to get people off guard otherwise you have about 0% of succeeding. This time of the year is great to pretend being ill as everyone has a cold (those of you who have not got one yet - just wait or even better just say: I am not going to get one). So when I got a sms from a friend who was looking after relatives with a cold I thought to give it a try. So, I replied that I was in bed with fever and that I needed to go to the hospital. OK, there was no face to face contact, neither was there any voice chat involved, but one should not underestimate the genius required to pull this off within 160 characters. Anyhow, within 3 sms I got my friend relatively upset as I was not 'planning' to go to the hospital despite my fever (I am stubborn what can I say?). I could not torturing the pure thing any further (the good man I am) so I put an end on it. Good news? Thing #50 is now complete!

Thing #21: Stay in bed all day

2008-10-18T23:54:00.007+01:00

It's almost midnight and I have now officially spent a day in bed. I actually feel rather tired from doing not much so I think I will now go to sleep. Well, more accurately, I will just sleep.

Thing #21: Sleep all day

2008-10-18T11:09:00.002+01:00

Last night I went to bed at 10:30 and woke up at 12:30. Feeling a bit tired from going to the gym yesterday I went back to sleep (as if there was something else to do at 12:30). I woke up around 7:00 thought it's early, and went back to sleep until... 7:30. Being consistent (or predictable - you choose) I slept again only to wake this time at around 9:00. Having the laptop next to me I checked my messages. No news-good news! Well how many emails can you really have between 10:30 Friday night and 9:00 Saturday morning? Of course, spam does not count. I made a coffee (so I had to get out of bed for a few minutes) picked up a few things and went straight back to bed.

Why am I telling you all this? Simply because I am trying to complete Thing #21: Sleep all day. As there is no chance I could spend a whole day sleeping (even if I did not sleep at all during the previous night) I thought to change this slightly and 'Stay in bed all day'. This is probably more difficult as far as I am concerned, as I will soon get restless and would like to get out of bed, but I have the utter confidence in me.

To members of the secret society: To help me get through the next 12 hours 50 minutes, feel free to contact me.

Thing #58: Start a band

2008-10-04T20:25:00.004+01:00

Attitude, enthusiasm (and good looks) can get you a long way in the music business. As I have not completed Thing #8 (learn to play a music instrument) I have decided to be the lead singer. And, as I have not found any musicians (who needs them anyway) I have decided to replace them with Karaoke CD. Many of them! They are widely available in music stores and can provide endless hours of entertainment... and potentially humiliation if you are not good enough. Of course the latter does not apply! To give you a taste of what a karaoke night involves, see the video below!

Want to try your skills: Check out this link!

Thing #85: Write a story and get it published

2008-10-02T21:33:00.003+01:00

I have published papers (boring version of the word stories) in various publishing outlets since I started writing this blog, but never got around reporting this Thing done. I am doing this now, as I found out this evening that one more paper has been accepted for publication. Good timing as I was looking for the next Thing to do! If anyone is interested in bed time reading, I could send him or her a signed copy!

Thing #41: Learn to like these foods

2008-09-25T20:59:00.003+01:00

This Thing is about trying eating new things and see if you like them or not. I am not 10 anymore and eating broccoli isn't a torture anymore (don't think it ever was) so this is a relatively easy Thing to complete. In fact most of the 'awful' things I actually like - lettuce, carrots, peas etc. So growing older has some good aspects too after all!

Thing #48: Watch these movies

2008-09-20T16:07:00.004+01:00

I was coasting on the information highway (this thing called the Internet) and I came across a post with a list of films. Apparently, if you have watched more than 85 movies in the list you don't have a life. I thought to give it a go instead of using the list provided by the book. And the sum was... 89, which is good enough to prove I don't have a life. Well, we already knew this, as I have spent more than a year on this blog right? Actually, I would have scored MUCH higher if the whole Star Wars saga was included in the list. Anyway, having watched more than enough films, I think I will continue my endevour of doing something interesting with the my remaining of my life - before I get too old and too boring.

If you want to try this for yourself here is the list:

{ ) Rocky Horror Picture Show
( ) Grease
( ) Pirates of the Caribbean
( ) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
( ) Neverending Story
( ) Blazing Saddles
( ) Airplane
Total:

( ) The Princess Bride
( ) AnchorMan
( ) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
( ) 50 First Dates
( ) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far:

( ) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
( ) American Pie
( ) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far:

( ) Harry Potter 1
( ) Harry Potter 2
( ) Harry Potter 3
( ) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
( ) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
( ) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far:

( ) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
( ) Signs
( ) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
( ) 13 Going on 30
( ) I, Robot
( ) Robots
Total so far:

( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
( ) Never Been Kissed
( ) Meet The Parents
( ) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
( ) KING KONG
Total so far:

( ) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
( ) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumb & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween H2O
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
( ) Flubber
Total so far:

( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far:

( ) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
( ) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
( ) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far:

( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Sleven
( ) Ocean's Eleven
( ) Ocean's Twelve
( ) Bourne Identity
( ) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star State of Mind
( ) Bedazzled
( ) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog [both versions]
( ) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far:

( ) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
( ) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Boss's Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
( ) War of the Worlds [both versions]
( ) Rush Hour
( ) Rush Hour 2
Total so far:

( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
( ) Ever After
( ) Wizard of Oz
( ) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
( ) The Terminator
( ) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3

Total so far:

( ) X-Men
( ) X2
( ) X-3
( ) Spider-Man
( ) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
( ) Catch Me If You Can
( ) The Little Mermaid
( ) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
( ) Shrek
( ) Shrek 2

Total so far:

( ) Swimfan
( ) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old-virgin

Total so far:

( ) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
( ) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
( ) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
( ) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
( ) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
( ) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Total so far:

( ) Love & Basketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devil's Rejects
( ) Elf
( ) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three

Total so far:

( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
( ) Monsters inc.
( ) Titanic
( ) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far:

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
( ) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
( ) Hook
( ) Chronicle Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld

Total so far:

( ) Kill Bill vol 1
( ) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
Total so far:

( ) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
( ) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
( ) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
( ) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
( ) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
( ) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far:

( ) The Matrix
( ) The Matrix Reloaded
( ) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America World Police
( ) Red Dragon
( ) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal
Total so far:

Thing #81: Research Your Family Tree

2008-09-17T14:53:00.003+01:00

Finally! I got around to do a bit of research and come up with about 80+ family members spanning 7 generations using a software programme I installed on my PC a few months ago (always proactive eh?). These cover about a time frame of 130 years, albeit most of them are as expected in the second half of the previous century. Still, it was interesting to see the past unfolding in front of me, even if this only involved scratching the surface. Good enough though to claim Thing #81 done!

Summer holidays

2008-08-15T12:47:00.005+01:00

It has been sometime since my last post - and I find myself turning into an old and boring person! So I thought to put some effort into getting back to the treasure hunting!

Before that though let me update you on a previous Thing I completed. I found myself lately into a flower-buying mode. If you can't grow something.. buy it! So I got a few bamboo plants which are great! A touch of water and a bit of sunlight can make miracles. They actually grew leaves after a month or so. This is a major success considering my track record and ability in gardering and taking care of flowers. So, I suppose Thing #24 is more complete now.

Thing #34: Hide treasure and leave a map

2008-06-02T20:56:00.003+01:00

X marks the spot, right? Wrong! Well there is no map, so there is no X. Instead, I am thinking of using Bookcross for this Thing. BookCrossing is defined as "the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise". The term is derived from bookcrossing.com, a free online book club which began and encouraged the practice and aims to "make the whole world a library". To search for books or even release your own books in the wild visit http://www.bookcrossing.com/.

Progress!

2008-05-25T19:55:00.006+01:00

Is a single leaf progress? Yes!

Is a tiny leaf progress? Yes!

I don't think this will grow any further, but at least this should be good enough. After all, I was never good at 'gardening' and even this is considerable progress!

PS: I supposed something like this would have been more better:

Third time lucky?

2008-05-16T18:45:00.002+01:00

I used the little wooden box I got from the money does not grow on trees kit and used it to plant a few lentils. They should grow up within the next 2-3 days. It's high time I got this right and completed this Thing!

What shall I do next?

2008-05-16T16:06:00.003+01:00

It's been a quiet month, but I am now ready as ever to complete more Things. In fact I am thinking of trying planting a seed (#24) for the third time and the far more fun Thing (#51) of spending £47.6 on something I like. I will keep you posted of any developments!

Thing #61: Join a club

2008-05-03T12:12:00.003+01:00

For Thing #80 I had to start a secret society.. and of course join it! It would have been though contumelious to put this forward claiming this Thing done.

So, for Thing #80 I will put forward myself joining a book club. The only thing is that I have never attended the club's meetings (well I found myself once a table away from their meeting - does that count?) ! In my defence, I did buy two of the proposed books for discussion but never got around to reading them. After all, I have not even read my Wired collection yet!

Thing #10: Have an embarassing moment

2008-04-23T11:37:00.003+01:00

Based on true events: A friend of mine (we will call her M. K. to maintain her anonymity) managed to complete three Things in one go, when it was revealed that she was to be blamed for the funny smells in the classroom and not the poor student sharing the desk with her. In doing so, she had an embarrassing moment, she completed the fart and burp Thing and also blamed someone else for it. A truly remarkable achievement!

If you have any great stories to share, then please do drop me a line or leave a comment!

Thing #7: Prepare yourself for fame

2008-04-11T01:31:00.003+01:00

It's too late to 'prepare' myself for fame (although I could have claimed I was born ready - what a cliché!). I am too old for that. The question is now whether I became famous or not, which as always got me thinking: How do you measure fame? It turns out, I am not the only person who thought about it and there is even some research on this. For example, Schulman and Boissier came up with this (notice this was published in the Annals of Improbable Research Online a site worth-checking).

Actually rewinding my thought recording tape, the very first thing that came to mind was not whether I was famous or not (we all now the answer to this - after all you are reading my blog!), but how do you deal with not becoming famous when you grow up. It is very harsh to wake up one day and realise that your dreams have not materialised. Yours dreams were filed under 'I don't-know-what-happened' and will probably stay there. You are not going to be someone 'special'. You will not even claim your 15 minutes of fame on TV... you get the picture.

Well, not everyone needs to be famous. What matters more is to be important for those around you, those who care about you. That's something you don't appreciate when you are 10 years old and fame seems like a priority. If you are 10 and reading this keep on dreaming, but remember one day you will wake up and you will not be 10 anymore. You've been warned!

Thing #79: Build an Igloo

2008-04-06T18:10:00.003+01:00

You find yourself stuck on a mountain in the middle of winter. Soon it will be dark. It's time you put your survival skills to work. You decide to build and igloo. You could follow the easy instructions shown in the video below (instructions are always easy until you apply them) but this seems like hard work. What if there was another way?

And indeed there is! The only catch when you want to build an igloo is that you need to have... snow. And today it did snow, for 30 minutes. I knew it was not going to be enough. It was not going to be hard enough to pack in blocks either. So, I decided to innovate and build an igloo mini-prototype.

The idea is simple, albeit it can take some time for it to work and if you are in a hurry this is not Place a strong enough tent-like shape in preferred position and... wait. Do something else for a few hours and when you come back you have your igloo ready. Simple!

In our case the transparent walls provide 360 degree views making this igloo not just a revolution in prefabricated igloos, but also a special place to protect you and your loved ones when stuck in the mountains.

Thing #15: Fart and Burp

2008-04-06T02:56:00.002+01:00

Check out this image at PostSecret.com.

PS: and in case you are wondering no it wasn't me who posted this. Still as completing this Thing by finding something so relevant is far more difficult than actually farting and burping, I think I deserve to claim this Thing!

Thing #42: April Fool Someone

2008-04-01T15:16:00.003+01:00

Happy... April Fool's Day! (You know who you are!)

Thing #42 completed - no no for real!

100th Post

2008-03-28T13:43:00.004Z

"In 2008, 24 global cities will participate in Earth Hour at 8pm on March 29. Earth Hour is the highlight of a major campaign to encourage businesses, communities and individuals to take the simple steps needed to cut their emissions on an ongoing basis. It is about simple changes that will collectively make a difference – from businesses turning off their lights when their offices are empty, to households turning off appliances rather than leaving them on standby."

To celebrate the 100th post of this fine blog I invite you to join Earth Hour or just switch off the lights for one hour completing Thing #26 for your own 101 Things.

For more information visit: http://www.earthhour.org/

PS: This is the 101th post!

Happy Birthday to me!

2008-03-25T11:10:00.004Z

Boring: I will never be that, but I admit.. I am getting older. In fact, on Tuesday I will be.. 25! It's a nice round number; 1/4 of a century. Sounds impressive eh?

I thought you would have liked to wish me Happy Birthday with many healthy blogging years to come. So, I am posting this, in order for you to leave a message (please make me feel better for getting on the wrong side of 25)! You know what you have to do!

PS: If you are a member of the secret society don't forget to organise a surprise party for me. I promise to look surprised. Thank you.

Thing #94: See your name in print

2008-03-22T19:44:00.003Z

I have seen my name in print many times (and yes I am modest for those who don't know me!). I have published a number of articles and book chapters, wrote a thesis many pages long, even saw articles about me in local newspapers. Getting something though in a national paper was a first and by achieving it I can happily claim Thing #94 done and put to bed. Next step will be to get in Wired (if the editor reads this please leave a comment and I will get back to you - Thank you).

Time capsule revisited

2008-03-12T10:14:00.003Z

It just occurred to me that my Wired collection is a time capsule in its own right. OK, it's not 25 years old, but still it provides a window to the past (...12 months - I am still struggling to keep up with the last issues). Anyway, I am now in February 2007 so some progress has been achieved.

I thought to share a few of my favourite stories of the past few issues:

Do I Know You?Some people can see your eyes, your nose, your mouth – and still not recognize your face. Now these prosopagnosia sufferers may help scientists unlock the mysteries of the brain. By Joshua Davis

The Perfect Man Dean Karnazes ran 50 marathons in 50 days. He does 200 miles just for fun. 12 secrets to his success. By Joshua Davis

The Secret World of Lonelygirl15 How a 19-year-old actress and a team of struggling Web filmmakers took on TV. A Wired exclusive. By Joshua Davis

Edifice, Complex Billowing glass, rippling titanium, swooping stainless steel. Onsite with the engineers who turn the most ambitious architectural plans into reality. By Karrie Jacobs

Raging Boll Uwe Boll, the worst movie director ever, challenged his Web critics to a boxing match. Four idiots actually met him in the ring. By Chris Baker

Thing #26: Help save the planet

2008-03-10T12:44:00.004Z

Every little helps! So I am going to recycle a sealed lead-acid battery.

Lead-acid batteries, invented in 1859 by French physicist Gaston Planté, are the oldest type of rechargeable battery. Despite having the second lowest energy-to-weight ratio (next to the nickel-iron battery) and a correspondingly low energy-to-volume ratio, their ability to supply high surge currents means that the cells maintain a relatively large power-to-weight ratio. These features, along with their low cost, makes them attractive for use in cars, as they can provide the high current required by automobile starter motors. They are also used in vehicles such as forklifts, in which the low energy-to-weight ratio may in fact be considered a benefit since the battery can be used as a counterweight. Large arrays of lead-acid cells are used as standby power sources for telecommunications facilities, generating stations, and computer data centers. They are also used to power the electric motors in diesel-electric (conventional) submarines.

And they are used in my portable hand held vacuum cleaner. So, by sending for recycling this battery (increases recycling hassle/convenience rate) I claim this Thing as done!

Thing #40: Take care of an animal

2008-03-05T23:00:00.003Z

I used to have a goldfish many years ago. A clever one! It may have left this world, but it did leave many good memories behind!

No animal testing took place while writing this post.

Thing #38: Make a time capsule

2008-02-18T10:47:00.005Z

I received an email a few minutes ago that made me think (not that I was not thinking before or that I will not think later on) of how many time capsules we make for other people.

A friend had kept all the letters I had sent 15 years ago. Yes, for those of you who are not yet old and boring, that was before email. It's rather scary to be able to narrate stories that took place 15 or 20 years ago, but what can you do about it (other than invent time travel)?

Looking back, it is "strange to notice how we were obviously less experienced in life, yet how little our characters and ideas have changed since then. 15 years ago, imagine... We're getting old", but not boring!

As this blog is not just about me, but those close to me too and as it seems that it has made a really good job of turning 'insignificant random events' to things worth sharing, I would like to put forward my friend's time capsule and declare Thing #38 done.

Thing #75: Watch a tadpole grow into a frog

2008-02-10T17:39:00.000Z

February to March is the best time to find frogspawn (apparently), so this is ideal time for me to watch a tadpole grow into a frog. So I could go to a lake and wait for a few weeks/months until I get to see the product of the final transformation: the frog. Now that's interesting, I am sure, but, there are other more extreme transformations that can be observed.. not at the lake, but on YouTube. Try watching the video below and see for yourself! This is as close I will get to watching animal transformations!

Thing #37: Write Lyrics for a Song

2008-02-09T22:21:00.000Z

No, I am not going for a Grammy, but I had to have a go at writing a few lyrics for a song. The good news is that I don't have to write the music too. If you can, then feel free to have a go at it and send me the MP3 to post here. Oh, the lyrics are released under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 UK: England & Wales licence.

Keep up

Moments like this you feel alone,
you think of the past,
and those things...
that are yet to come,
uncertainty all around,
deep breaths come out.

You know there is a start,
there is even an end.
You are somewhere in between,
in a journey, straight ahead.

Time passes by,
without you on my side,
and I have, I have to wonder why...
why, are you not on my side?

Emotions are tangled,
thoughts and actions too.
I am not tired of keeping up,
I am just tired of being away from you.

Thing #96: Glue coins to the floor

2008-02-01T18:23:00.000Z

I went to a house the other day and outside, on the steps, there were two coins. I could not be bothered to pick them up. So, said to a friend who was near by: "It's your lucky day, 15p!" She tried to pick them up, only to find out they were glued! Now for this thing I was supposed to glue the coins myself, but still by indirectly tricking someone, I accidentaly managed to complete this Thing!

Thing #4: Learn how to tell if someone fancies you

2008-02-01T18:19:00.001Z

Internet, such a wonderful thing! It can actually provide a much-sought solution to an ever-lasting problem: find if someone fancies you. Well, since I marked this as done, I came across a nice way of figuring this out.

Just try: http://www.loveanalyst.com, but use it at your own risk ;)

Thing #16: Done

2008-01-27T19:57:00.001Z

For two weeks I have counted the number of bad words and I am happy to report that paying yourself the princely amount of 10p per bad words does help towards reducing your swear footprint on this planet. On average I used half of my available quota and with an average of 6.4 bad words a day I should award myself £19.2 pounds for the whole month. It seems I shot myself on the foot as this is £14.2 less than the average pocket money. So I propose (and I am sure you agree) that for Thing #51 I should give myself a bonus and double the difference, i.e. spend in one go 14.2x2+19.2=£47.6. I now need to decide what I will be getting for myself!

The brain: a powerful thing

2008-01-19T11:53:00.000Z

The brain is a powerful thing - that can make you or break you. You get to learn to think in a certain way and that may often may be very different to how others think. Your experiences, the environment you live in, the people around you or away from you, will affect you, either contradicting or more often re-enforcing how you think. It's all in the process and bias. Bias gives you the building blocks: assumptions and 'rationale'; process puts them together, like the scaffolding that creates the structure for the bricks to follow or like puzzles pieces that come together to create a picture. Why all this totally unscientific and fascinating simplistic approach to neuro-science?

Well, it's been a long week of counting swear words. I estimated 11 a day and to my surprise I found that on average I use(d?) fewer words than that. This is good news, as I have to put 10p in my swear box for each one of them, but still... it got me thinking. Is it really the absolute number of words that matter. Is really my set target of 11 words a day that difficult to achieve? 'Yes and no' is my answer.

For example: assume you sleep 8 hours on average that leaves you with 16 hours with a quota of 1.45 words each. That's sounds difficult, especially if you take into consideration that when we use bad words they are more than one in a phrase!

What about the % that bad words represent of our total spoken words a day. I found a page that concludes that males use about 6000 words per day and females use 8800 per day. I am sure you were not surprised! There are other estimates that show the same trend, albeit with a larger gap. In anyway lets assume females use more words than men. With 300 words per page, that's 20 pages for a male and 29.3 for a female. With an average of 4-6 characters a word and 70 years of average talking life-span one can easily calculate the amount of storage space required to transcribe everything one said in a lifetime and save it on a PC, which I roughly calculated to be less than a gigabyte of data. Sad - my phone has enough memory to keep everything I've said so far and will say in my remaining days. Anyway returning to my previous argument 11 words a day is only about 0.2% of what males say and even lower for females. That makes you feel better eh? Perhaps, but this should not be an excuse to start using more bad words. In fact, that reminds me of a song that says "those who swear do so, because they have not learnt to talk".

Returning to the actual Thing in hand I've tried to count as accurately as possible and I found that counting was a good obstacles to using bad words. Often I found that I started replacing them with something less 'offensive'. You could perhaps use something totally irrelevant, like apples or oranges. That can even be a good ideas as saying oranges so many times a day may create the desire to eat one. Vitamins are good after all.

I will keep counting for another week - more counting will increase the validity of my experiment and perhaps will help me rewire the hardware in my brain and prevent me from using bad words in the future.

Poll

2008-01-19T11:36:00.001Z

The poll is now closed and the results are:

Old 1 (4.34%)
Boring 4 (17.39%)
Old and boring 4 (17.39%)
None of the above 14 (60.86%)

Many thanks to all 23 of you who voted. For those 14 of you who voted none of the above - mid-life crisis is yet to come!

Happy new year!

2008-01-13T09:56:00.000Z

It's 2008 and I have another 78 things to! No hurry; in 2 years time I will be there.

So, let's get started. My first Thing to do (16) will be to make a swear box and fine myself, if I say a bad word. Hmmm, that's semi difficult to keep track of, but I will try to put 10p as suggested in a box for every single word. Then, I will spend it all as Thing 51 suggests.

It actually suggests saving pocket money, but as I don't get any from myself, my swear-box will do. Interestingly, the average pocket money given in the UK is 8.35 pounds, i.e. 33.4 pounds in a month. By starting today, I will finish on the 13th of Febrary. I guess, the question here is whether I will swear more than 334 times until then to collect more money than the average pocket money. That's a bit more than 11 words a day! Easy!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-16T20:25:00.000Z

I think I am done for this year! 35 Things and 86 posts later I will wish you all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. You may be older when I next see you, but do make sure you have a great time during the holidays!


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Thing #86: Sing in front of an audience

2007-12-16T20:15:00.000Z

I like singing (whether that applies to those around me, that's a different question) which is handy, because this is what I had to do to complete Thing #86. Today's performance in front of a loyal audience is put forward as evidence for the completion of this Thing.

PS: If you are a world-wide known band and you are looking for a lead singer, then drop me a line.

Thing #31: Host a party

2007-12-14T22:55:00.000Z

If you are a member of the secret society you attended the great party I organised. If you are not, please apply within. Every member of the society gets a free ball of crisps.

Thing #39: Be a genius

2007-12-14T22:00:00.000Z

How appropriate is this Thing for me! Most of my friends think I am a genius and (of course) they think right. They will also testify of my modesty any day! That's me: a modest genius. I am sure you have figured that out anyway by following this blog. You choice of web sites to visit indicates readers of higher intelligence, so well done to you too.

Anyway, to complete the test I decided to take an online IQ Test. Not the best thing to do when you have a headache, but it's a good way to treat insomnia, as IQ test put me to sleep in exactly 26.8 seconds.

So I entered 'IQ test' in Google and selected the first test in the list. After all, I needed an unbiased test (i.e. I did not pick one based on personal preference). Despite the fact that I hate IQ tests, I decided to see this test through. So, I completed it (without falling asleep) and it seems I have an IQ of 126. This ranks me at the top of the above average scale, just 3 points below gifted (2.3% of test takers). Click here for the scales.

Try it if your self and post a comment with your results: http://www.iqtest.com

Thing #93: Build your own web site

2007-12-06T18:14:00.000Z

Hello?!? You are already to my web site! What's the point in building things from scratch? Not to mention that this is a good opportunity to be part of the Web2.0 movement.

In anyway, I have built more web sites in my life than I care to remember, so I consider this Thing D*O*N*E.

Thing #20: Stay up all night - Done!

2007-12-01T07:40:00.001Z

Done, lets now go to bed and sleep.

Stay awake - Update #4

2007-12-01T07:19:00.000Z

Almost fell asleep 22 minutes before the end! :)

Stay awake - Update #3

2007-12-01T06:08:00.001Z

Time until Saturday, 1 December 2007, 07:40:00 (London time)

It is 0 days, 1 hour, 31 minutes and 32 seconds until Saturday, 1 December 2007, 07:40:00 (London time)

Stay awake - Update #2

2007-12-01T02:41:00.000Z

Good news! I double checked the book and it does not say that I have to stay awake between 7pm and 9am. It actually says: "Tick the box if you have stayed up later than..." and boxes from 7pm to 9am. So technically, staying up all night does not necessarily mean until 9am. In fact, in London today sunrise is at 7:40am (sunset was at 3:55pm). If you don't believe me then visit http://www.sunrisesunset.com/. Hence, to stay up all night I need to stay awake until 7:40am. That is only 292 minutes or 17k seconds away, i.e. about 5 hours. (countdown) Piece of cake!

Stay awake - don't try this at home!

2007-12-01T01:36:00.000Z

I am trying to keep myself awake tonight to complete this Thing. If you 'try', then it's more difficult than it actually is. Anyway, to help time pass I watched an ice hockey game, and then played cards until 1:30am. I have another 6 and 1/2 hours to go. Lets hope I can complete this Thing in one go.

Thing #20: Stay up all night

2007-11-28T22:14:00.000Z

I have stayed up probably too many nights in my life, so once more won't make a difference. So, this Friday I plan to stay up all night (i.e. from 7pm to 9pm). I will be updating you on my progress as time goes by. Feel free to send me messages during the night and keep my motivated!

Thing #19: Make a t-shirt

2007-11-17T12:31:00.000Z

To complete Thing 19 I had to create a t-shirt. I actually did this 17 years ago (you are officially old if you can refer to thing that happened 17 years ago, BUT then again I am only 18), using a cover from one of my favourite albums. I think I still have that t-shirt somewhere. Now for this Thing I thought it would be more interesting if I created a few designs following the Things I did for the blog. You can download the images and use them to create your own personalised items (t-shirts, coffee mugs etc) using a service like CafePress (http://www.cafepress.com/), showing your support for the blog and of course spreading the word at the same time!

As true evangelists, you will then send me a photo of you or the items you ordered. Chances are no one will do it, but then you should not complain to others who claim you are old and boring. Photos of your custom-made items are also welcome!

For mugs and other items:

Tshirts:

Thing #43: Make a difference - Done!

2007-11-06T23:34:00.000Z

The target amount has been donated to the selected charity and this Thing is now completed!

My gratitude goes to all those who kindly donated, helping me complete this Thing!

Thing #28: Do a party trick

2007-11-05T20:37:00.000Z

It's been a while since I've completed a Thing, so I though to do #28 and come back with a bit of magic!

Interestingly, Thing #28 is the 28th Thing I complete!

Money does not grow on trees

2007-10-25T22:35:00.000+01:00

My money seed failed to grow for a second time, so I have decided to give up this one for the time being.

Finally!

2007-10-19T20:28:00.000+01:00

The seed seems to be growing now towards the right direction (after I had to reorient it!). You would have thought that reading the 3 line instructions would have made a difference. Hopefully, in 3-4 days there will be signs of the first leafs... and signs of me finally finishing this Thing.

Toooo slow

2007-10-18T12:08:00.000+01:00

I got another seed kit and planted my second money seed, hoping I will be more successful this time. I placed it next to the window and watered it regularly. I even read the instructions this time. Still, four days later no result. I always knew gardening (and plants in general for that matter) was not my cup of tea, but this is now getting ridiculous. Lets give it another 2-3 days and see what happens.

Vote now!

2007-10-12T10:04:00.000+01:00

A few days ago I added a poll (check the right hand side column). It will stay open for 101 days. So, get voting! After all, you don't want to miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to make a difference, right?

Thing #35: Learn how to ask someone out

2007-10-12T09:40:00.000+01:00

You would have thought that years of practice would have made this easier. Think again! I guess people don't get better at asking other people out as such. They just handle rejection easier. Then, it is so much easier to ask someone one! Before you get old and boring you tend to take things personally a bit more than you should really do. When you are old enough, and wiser if I may say, you realise it's not the end of the world if you get reject. In fact, even if you do go on a date, you will need to probably ask someone else out sooner or later (that's what statistics say anyway). I guess this is why this Thing is actually called 'Learn how to ask someone out and... how to dump them'! Both useful social skills for emotionally balanced individuals!

Now if you are a girl reading this blog please read this: How to ask a guy out (as if you really need to!). If you are a boy reading this blog please read this: How to ask a girl out (you most probably need this!). Either way, if you still struggle, get the "101 Things to do before you are old and boring" and pretend you ask someone out only because it's in the book. It's a good way to start a conversation about the Things you've done, it proves you are not yet old and boring and if at the end you get rejected... you can always blame the book!

Feel old and boring? Talk2Me

2007-10-07T16:31:00.000+01:00

Dan is yet another person who woke up one day and felt (almost) old and boring. So, he decided to talk to people about what it means to be old and boring (as if we don't know!). How would you spot Dan? Well the sign and his t-shirt give him away, don't you think?

Find out more about Dan's 101 Things at his blog.

Thing #22: Invent a secret code

2007-09-30T16:28:00.000+01:00

When I was a kid I thought it would have been cool if we had a secret code to chat without being understood. By chat I don't mean... online! The Internet as we now it today did not exist back then. So, I reinvented the wheel by adopting a straight number for letter substitution. It was not difficult to crack but assuming you could the substitution quicker than those that you were trying to fool (i.e. the other kids) that was fine. If you want to see how this works click here. So I would like to retrospectively put my ingenuity forward and tick the box for this Thing.

By the way, secret codes are very helpful things, especially if you are to have your own secret society, right?

2 leaves

2007-09-29T23:47:00.000+01:00

Twenty days in the making and ladies and gentlemen we have two leaves. That's not very exciting so I will save myself the embarrassment and try this again. I need to go and buy one more of the seed kits (and even follow the instructions this time!). Thinking in a genuinely geeky way I could use the existing kit to plant normal seeds and compare them to the money-seed. It would be interested to see if the money tree worths its money by outperforming the normal seeds! Ironic eh?

one week later...

2007-09-20T20:26:00.000+01:00

It's now been a few days since I planted my seed and my money tree is still to come to life. I was wondering today whether it would come to life after all... due to a few 'minor' issues. For example, planting the seed the wrong way (it was the instructions fault) or watering it too much (again the instructions - they did not say much) or placing the seed under the light (it was not in a dark cupboard or anything but still). I was thinking of getting another one equipped with my newfound wisdom to try this once more, when I noticed the seed has actually grown a bit the last couple of days. Perhaps I should give it a bit more time and take it from there!

No words needed...

2007-09-14T01:17:00.000+01:00

Thing #31: Host a party

2007-09-11T09:44:00.000+01:00

I am hosting a party and you are all invited!